The Infernal Hierarchies, Penetrating the Threshold of Night
At the time of this review being written, this album is rather new. The Infernal Hierachies, Penetrating the Threshold of Night released on April 15, 2014, and is the second full-length album of the rather underground Black Metal band Pact. The first album, The Dragon Lineage of Satan, is argued to be better in most reviews, and as a fan of the first album since it was shown to me via friend, I will break the question. This album has 9 songs and will take you around 46 minutes, versus The Dragon Lineage of Satan's 45 minutes. So now that the buffering is finished, the review can start. Song by Song Review The Hell of Supernal's- Just so you know, no, this is not a typo. It cuts off the name right there, and has the apostrophe. The intro hits you hard. This is nothing I would expect from pact. It sounds like a Bloodbath intro, or another Death metal type. When the singing starts, it does not get lighter. This is a prime example of heavy Black metal. The sound reminds me of Behemoth, in a good way. The screams in this call force walls down, and the vocal syle is refreshing and great. I hope the album lives up to this, and that this is not just a strong intro. I would also like to take the time to say this is the shortest song on the album, at 3:26 at length. Baal-Zebub Lord of the Flies- This song starts with the sound of flies buzzing, as an obvious nod to Beelzebub, the lord of the flies. Instantly the music starts and kicks you in the throat with another intro, this time more of a Dimmu Borgir sound. The drums set more of a tone than the guitar, and uses the effect used in the Dark Funeral song Stigmata, where to drums put you in a trance-like state. The vocals come back early on in the song, and they are MUCH deeper than I came into this album expecting. They still pretain to the Black metal screaming, but the simple tone changes the entire feeling. The guitar is really great in this song, it just feels evil. Half way through this song, you encounter a slow-down. The guitar and drums feel like sludge/drone metal, while the vocals keep that Black metal twist going. An often risker move, but Pact really pulls it off, here. When it speeds up again, it really goes back to its heaviness. The Great Seprent of Tehom- A slow, melodic intro kicks this off, with a wild scream. The song seems to keep a feeling of dread in it, as Black metal is one of the best genres to do this with. The rather dark instruments truly feel as if they are necissary in this song. Suddenly, a very heavy switch. The instruments keep the feeling of dread in a way, but turn it into a feeling of badassery. At 2 minutes in, a slow down occurs. It is slower than the slow down in Baal-Zebub Lord of the Flies, and it takes over 30 seconds for the vocals to come back. When they do, the instruments stay rather slow, and the vocals seem to be preachy. And just as fast as the slow down happened, it speeds back up into classic Black metal. I can tell this album will be pulling some more odd tricks along the way, and I am ready to embrace that as long as they stay entertaining. Firelord Andramelch- This is the longest song on the album, at 6:42 minutes. This song's intro sounds like it is from an old 1990's Black metal album. Truly great throw back for any fans of classic Black metal. The Behemoth style makes a comeback, and the guitar really does back it up well. Though the song feels a bit thrashy later on, it is still something I would call good. This song makes me realize that Pact already made a major change from The Dragon Lineage of Satan. Though I will miss the sound of Flowers of Evil from the past album, I deffinitly can deal with this. The song really does feel twisted and angry toward the end, in a very good way. Pactmaker Lucifuge- A slow and doomy intro puts one foot before the other, to get this song on track. The intro alone is catchy and lovable, but before long Pact comes in full force with a very fast paced song. Remember how I said I would be fine with new tricks if they were good? This is a good way to understand what I meant. That switch is VERY good. The guitar and drums go together in a rather steady way, and it truly is a format for gold. The style the singer uses in this album seems to alternate from Behemoth style, to classic Black metal style. Thankfully, this song uses the classic Black metal style. The guitar seems so dark and evil behind the vocals, I am begging for an instrumental version of this song. Under the Eclipse of Tiphareth- This song sounds like something out of The Dragon Lineage of Satan. Classic Black metal, screaming vocals, rather thrashy guitar, drums to paralyse a blue whale, this song has it all. Every verse switches tones. First, he is singing a bit deeper and the guitar slows, than he is singing a bit higher, and the guitar gets faster and the drums get louder. Masterwork for a band with only two albums (Three if you count before the name switch to Pact). This song could be in an album released by one of the much bigger names in Black metal, and still cut best song. This is the third song to use a mid-song slow down, but this time it slows and completely stops. Then out of the nothingness, comes everything. A guitar role-in and suddenly picking up where the song left off, but faster. The scream from 4:19-4:35 is amazingly brutal and intense. This is a paradise for fans of the old sounding Black metal, and any fans of clever tricks. The Witchmother of Shade's- Again with the unneeded apostraphe. No, really, that is how the name of the song is spelt. Anyways, just like Under the Eclipse of Tipareth, this song will appeal to any fans of classic Black metal. The guitar repeats the same heavy, catchy cords, and it works here. I can only imagine the drummer dying of exhaustion at this point in the album. This is the first band the drummer "T" has been in, and he works his ass hard. Good job, T. Good job. Rather simple song, but you can just hear pure talent in it. Good luck getting this one out of your head for the next two weeks. Especially ending, from 3:50 forward. Yes, it has a two minute ending. No, it is not able to be complained about. I would be the first to do it if it was. Asmodeus Beast of Judgement- Damn this song does not mess around. The second it starts, in is right in the action. Throwing you directly into the front lines with no cover. If a simple instrument change was made, this could easily be Symphonic Black metal. This is possibly the best session of the vocals this album has to offer. Heart pounding and blood halting at the core, and powerful from the outside. The song does feel a bit unorganised, but I fear that may just be high-famed Death metal artists ruining my taste for anything other than that. And odd break happens in this song, where you can hear a man speaking some rather dark words. After he is done speaking, the guitar gets rather great with a catchy riff. The clossing almost as great as the ending, and the song finishes. The Howling of Gamchicoth- This is it. This is the final song on the album. Hopefully it will be a big grande finally. An epic intro that will easily haunt you for hours after listening starts the song off, and the vocals kick your ass to the other side of the world. A refined, catchy, and none the less evil sounding song to close an album like this is perfect. Though it may not be my favorite song on this album, it sure does capture the entire sound perfectly. This is a satisfactory ending. The Dragon Lineage of Satan vs The Infernal Hierarchies, Penatrating the Threshold of Night The Infernal Hierarchies, Penatrating the Threshold of Night is an outstanding album. I can not say it is as good as The Post Apocalyptic Servant by Sinister, or The Satanist by Behemoth, put it is up there. And for a band with only one other album to come close to two legendary artists like Sinister and Behemoth, it shocks me. The Dragon Lineage of Satan and The Infernal Hierachies, Penatrateing the Threshhold of Night are so different, I can not call one better than the other. While the newest album, The Infernal Hierarchies, Penatrating the Threshold of Night is much cleaner and more refiend that The Dragon Lineage of Satan, some people prefer less clean sounds, and that is perfectly fine. Go with your taste, but no matter what album you choose out of the two, you will have an amazing time.